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Views of Mt. Everest

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Nepalese politicians take part in a cabinet meeting at Kalapattar Plateau near Mt. Everest on December 4, at an altitude of 17,192 feet. Nepalese ministers held their high-altitude meeting on a remote mountain plateau in the shadow of Mt. Everest to highlight the impact of global warming on the Himalayas. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar of Nepal and 22 other ministers, equipped with oxygen cylinders, travelled by helicopter for the gathering on the Kalapattar Plateau in the world's highest mountain range. Prakash Mathema/AFP/Newscom

For more than 85 years, summiting Mt. Everest has been and remains one of the world's ultimate challenges. Known in Tibet as the Mother Goddess of the Universe, the mountain has a reputation for attracting swashbuckling adventurers, rogue personalities, and nomadic tribes of climbers. Michael Kodas/Hartford Courant/MCT/Newscom/File

A golfer plays a shot near Namche Bazar, which he hired a helicopter to reach, on March 5. Mt. Everest, the world's highest peak at 29,029 ft, is seen in the background. Gopal Chitrakar/Reuters/File

Tom Noonan (top) of the U.S. and Ganesh Pandey of Nepal perform a tandem skydive at an area near Mt. Everest (background), in Nepal on October 29. The skydivers completed the jump and made a successful landing at the Gorak Shep, Kala Pathar plateau, at an altitude of 17,192 feet, right beside Mt. Everest. This is believed to be the highest skydiving stunt performed over the highest drop zone in the world, according to the organizer. Wendy Smith/Reuters/File

Sherpas with baskets are seen, back-dropped by Mt. Everest. Zuma/Newscom/File

This picture, taken on May 7, 2008, shows tents at the Attack Camp of Mt. Everest, at the altitude of over 27,000 ft. in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame reached the top on May 8. Zuma/Newscom/File

Tenzing Norgay (r.) of Nepal and Edmund P. Hillary of New Zealand stand in the gear they wore when conquering Mt. Everest on May 29, 1953, at the British Embassy in Katmandu, Nepal, June 26 of that year. AP/File

A group of Chinese climbers make their way to the summit of Mt. Everest on May 10. China wants to restrict the number of climbers on Mt. Everest in a bid to protect the harsh but fragile environment on the world's highest mountain. AFP/Newscom/File

As Earth's tectonic plates move across the planet's surface, the continents that sit atop them are carried along, sometimes smashing together for many millions of years at a time. As the continents mash against each other, their collision gradually slows.